The Crazy Wisdom Community Journal • May - August 2017 • Page 100
L�VE YOUR
CALLING By Holly Makimaa
Almost 15 years ago, a friend asked me a question I frequently ask others now: “Are you willing to risk finding out what your gifts are?” The world could not be more ready for each of us to discover, cultivate, and use our gifts to help heal our society. Yet, how many times do we let fear get in the way of us stepping forward to listen to and act on our inner callings? At the time my friend challenged me to listen to my inner calling, I was contemplating teaching my first public series of writing for healing classes. Even though I had been sharing these tools informally for years, my doubts almost kept me from moving forward: Would the classes really help people? What if I didn’t know enough? What if I failed in some way? Yet, my friend’s loving words flipped fear on its head and helped me to get curious about the possibilities. Since that day, I have facilitated nearly 100 classes and workshops, sat with people at critical junctures in their lives, and seen miracles regularly occur as people listen deeply. It has been one of my life’s greatest joys to watch people’s lives transform Photo by Rick Rokely through writing about and sharing their spiritual journeys in small classes, on retreats, and in private coaching sessions. I have witnessed individuals leave unfulfilling careers and start their own businesses or nonprofits based on their soul passions; I have seen students go back to school or begin additional training in their 70s; I have held space for men to find the courage to grieve the loss of children; I have energetically held men and women as they find forgiveness for the tragedies in their lives; I have watched people risk all to listen to their hearts’ longings; and I have encouraged students to release the weight of stories they carried alone — only for them to recognize they are not alone. Along the way, I have learned more than I could have ever imagined I would need to know about holding sacred space, and I am still learning. I went back for additional training as a journaling facilitator, an interspiritual minister, a bioenergetics facilitator, and a spiritual coach during the 15 years since my friend’s question. But, none of it could have happened without my saying yes to the initial calling. Of course, none of it would have happened either without my own spiritual coaches and writing peers holding me in a sacred space when I went through challenging times with illness, the death of loved ones, or other life changes.
My doubts almost kept me from moving forward: Would the classes really help people? What if I didn’t know enough? What if I failed in some way? The dictionary defines a calling as “a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence.” In a more long-term sense, calling refers to “the vocation or profession in which one customarily engages.” I like to define it more simply. I think what it takes to live our calling is the courage to be honest about what needs to be called forth at any given time. There’s a thread line or calling we might follow our whole lives, like to be a healer, an artist, or a parent, and then there are the callings we find ourselves called to in any given season. For instance, after the death of a parent, some are called to be still and make sense of the mystery of life and death by going inward. Other seasons, for instance, are far busier, like when launching a project, raising young children, responding to a social movement, and so on.
Photo by Petra Daher
How many times do we let fear get in the way of us stepping forward to listen to and act on our inner callings? Urgency demands a more masculine output of energy. Times of reflection require a more feminine approach. Our world is learning how to balance these two approaches, and it is more important than ever that we honor both ways of being in the world as we live our callings. Listening to our callings and acting upon them is a refined skill. People who go into formal religious life spend a lot of time discerning their life direction. But the majority of people don’t have a container or space to be able to honor and really listen to what is drawing them. I was raised in a religious tradition that had a forum for people to discern how to act on their spiritual inclinations. I found that extremely helpful and am passionate about making sure people of all faiths, spiritual backgrounds, and from all walks of life, including those with no official ties to a community, have such a space to explore their callings. I once heard a woman at a workshop say that something “called her forth.” I like that notion. What calls the real you forth? In the coaching sessions and groups I offer, I create a sacred container for people to listen deeply and voice what moves them. What moves people is often what lights them up inside or continues to knock at the door of their hearts.
At this critical time on the planet, each of us is being invited to do our part. I believe that by each of us digging deeper into our truths, together we will live into the answers. We must forge the new way by listening deeply to our callings and inspiring those around us to follow suit. No longer is there a time when someone else will do the work for us. We are the ones who are called to co-create. Will you risk finding out what your gifts are this year? As an avid dancer, I am moved by the famous quote from choreographer Martha Graham. It applies every bit as much to dance as it does to life and to listening to our callings: There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business … to keep the channel open … Holly Makimaa facilitates classes, rituals, groups, and private spiritual coaching sessions to support people in healing and transformation. She holds the vision of all people creatively and joyfully activating their gifts within their communities. As an interfaith/interspiritual minister, she honors all spiritual paths as sacred. To learn more, visit yourtransformationaljourney.com or email hollymakimaa@ gmail.com.